Among nucleic acid molecules, molecules which do not code for a protein but perform a function important for various life phenomena have been known. Examples of such nucleic acid molecules include a functional non-coding RNA molecule (Non Patent Literature 1) and a small RNA molecule that induces RNA interference (Non Patent Literature 2).
For example, RNA interference has been energetically studied as an important technique for suppressing specifically an action of a target RNA in a cell (Non Patent Literature 3) for an application not only as a reagent but also as a drug (Non Patent Literature 4).